Durga Puja in Kolkata is without doubt, the biggest annual socio-cultural festival in the world. Yes, there is religion thrown in for good measure. Yes, for many it has deeply spiritual connotations, but for the city, her residents and the teeming millions who take to the streets during these “officially” five days of fun n frolic, it is a time for unadulterated revelry, of sheer joy. A time when a three hundred plus year old city on the banks of a river that is as sacred as life, sprouts such vibrant colours and throws up such unique flavours that none, anywhere in the world can even come close in terms of sheer vibrancy.
Here are the top five reasons that make Kolkata Durga Puja unique:
Connect. Durga Puja is an excuse to connect – with the girl next door who, at least you believed, exchanged furtive glances with you. You also connect with cousins and their cousins and long-lost childhood friends, with relatives, with compete strangers … even with the traffic constable who mans the busy crossing that you pass every day, to and from your office. As a unifier, a leveler, a normaliser, the pujas have no parallel – all schisms are pushed into the background as the celebration of life explodes spontaneously in a million hearts. On one level, Durga puja is the celebration of the home coming of Bengal’s daughter, on another it has important agricultural connotations, on yet another it celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, over evil. But most of all, it is about opening hearts, of embracing the primordial, the eternal spirit of goodness.
Hop. It is about pandal hopping. Kolkata is known as the Cultural Capital of India and if you want to test the veracity of the claim, you should visit the city during the Durga Pujas. Every pandal (temporary sheds where the idols are revered) be it the most ostentatious or simple, will bear indelible marks of creativity, of deep thought, of loving affection, of artistic flourish. The lighting will be spectacular. And the idols themselves mesmerising in their stark beauty. Often the pujas will follow a theme – where a certain aspect, however unrelated to the Goddess, will be highlighted – gist for the argumentative Kolkata gentry to discuss and plan for the next year!
Gorge. This is also a celebration gastronomic. Everybody eats out. Be that the ubiquitous Rolls, or Kolkata’s own version of Chinese (many of the dishes that the world celebrates, like Chili Chicken for example, trace their roots to Kolkata), or Fuchkas, or Biryani or Sushi. From five-star gourmet eateries to the road corner vendor dishing out street food, these five days, Kolkata is the personification of eat-at-sight. And the tastes that rule the roost? They are too numerous, even to contemplate listing.
Party. The party doesn’t stop. People, and by people, I mean everybody, don their finest and deck up to join in the revelry. There are no night “hot spots” as the entire city becomes one – groups from teenagers to the geriatrics and families – throng the pandals, eat their hearts out, eve as they soak in every bit. House parties are only for the absolutely faint hearted and the exhausted as the city – awash in lights, filled with people, blanketed in the din of microphones – show the world how it has to be lived up.
Recharge. This is also the time to regenerate, to reinvigorate, to recharge. A time to read good books. To watch good films. To immerse one’s self into the world of melodies. To talk to those that matter. To hold meaningful conversations. To celebrate all that is good, that is enlightening, that is uplifting. To reach out a hand of help, to touch lives with a desire to transform.
At Globe we too are a part of this “Mother of all Celebrations”. Do give us a call and our gourmet planners will chart out an exclusive deal for you – some festivals are too precious not to have immersed one’s self in a lifetime.
